Someone on AwardsWatch accused the Academy of leaking false rumors to various pundits so as to use Twitter responses as free focus groups for the ideas they officially announce, and man if that doesn't just sound dead on

Do they intend to make the ceremony shorter and thus have few commercial breaks or make the ceremony shorter keeping the same number of commercial breaks? Because then it might feel like you're just watching commercials and no real show.

The Academy just announced that "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" will be performed not by Tim Blake Nelson but by songwriters David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, and "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from Mary Poppins Returns will not be performed by Emily Blunt, but instead by "a special surprise guest" (which makes it sound like it must be Julie Andrews, except that it seems odd to decline a cameo in the film but then show up to do this).

"The Place Where Lost Things Go" from Mary Poppins Returns will not be performed by Emily Blunt, but instead by "a special surprise guest" (which makes it sound like it must be Julie Andrews, except that it seems odd to decline a cameo in the film but then show up to do this).

Last I heard, Andrews could no longer sing due to a botched surgical procedure on her vocal cords many years ago. I'm betting it will be a current pop singer like Ariana Grande.

I was under the impression that she had at least recovered a limited range of her singing voice, and the nominated song is not very musically demanding...but after looking into a bit more, I think you may be right. I looked up some videos from her “Gift of Music” tour of ten years ago and it seems to be mostly speak-singing.

I still doubt it would be someone like Ariana Grande because for demographic reasons I think they’d want to advertise her presence beforehand, though I suppose there’s still plenty of time to reveal the “surprise” between now and the broadcast.

During a moderated discussion with The Hollywood Reporter at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Friday, Malek addressed his relationship with Singer:

"My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I've heard and what is out there," Malek told the audience at Santa Barbara's Arlington Theatre. "It's awful, it's remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they've been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era that this somehow seems to exist after that, it's a horrible thing."

Pivoting to his own experience with the director, the star said he found it difficult to talk about because he didn't want to take away from the focus on Mercury and Queen, but said he doesn't "want anyone to not feel like they can share their story."

"I've sat here and talked about how everyone deserves a voice and anyone who wants to talk about what happened with Bryan deserves to have their voice heard," Malek said. "In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that's about what I can say about it at this point."

A visibly emotional Malek paused while the audience applauded, and then added, "For anyone who is seeking any solace in all of this, Bryan Singer was fired. Bryan Singer was fired, I don't think that was something anyone saw coming but I think that had to happen and it did."